As AI accelerates, governments are increasingly being left behind

The OpenAI headquarters in San Francisco.

LONDON – Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, gathered senior officials for an exclusive meeting at a 19th-century palace outside Brussels in September.

The goal was to prepare for a speech outlining the 27-nation bloc’s priorities for 2027, with artificial intelligence dominating the agenda. The region’s new AI czar, Jim Hagemann Snabe, chair of German industrial giant Siemens, outlined ways that Europe could use the technology for economic gain. Others raised concerns about AI safety and growing risks, two people briefed on the gathering said.